On Monday, City Council approved an agreement that will allow Cuyahoga County Public Library to help pay for driveway and parking-lot improvements near City Hall.

Mosser Construction Inc. in Fremont will make the improvements in conjunction with CCPL’s building of a new library branch just south of City Hall on Powers Boulevard. The library groundbreaking is scheduled for Aug. 28

Brian Higgins, the city’s service director, said CCPL will pick up 45 percent of the improvement costs.

Higgins said the improvement project will cost $509,000. The city will pay $279,000 and CCPL will contribute $230,000, he said.

“The library maintained throughout the process that they were willing to help with the costs (of the improvements), and through subsequent negotiations, that is the amount that was agreed upon,” Higgins said.

Higgins said CCPL will cover the costs up front and the city will reimburse the library system next year.

Also, the city is also paying GPD Group — the same Akron firm that is designing the new library — $67,260 to design the driveway and lot improvements and coordinate them with the library’s construction.

It was GPD that chose Mosser, according to Roberts.

Councilwoman Debbie Lime was the only council member to vote against the agreement with CCPL.

Lime questioned the importance of the driveway and parking lot improvements compared to other capital projects. She asked what the city will cut from next year’s budget to pay for the driveway and lot improvements.

Also, Lime asked what will happen to the city’s fire safety house once the library project and City Hall-area improvements go forward.

The city must move the safety house to make room for the new library. City officials recently ruled against moving the house to Parma Community General Hospital’s Health Education Center due to the estimated $100,000 price tag.

“They (CCPL) need to step up to the plate and come up with $100,000 to send it (the safety house) to the Health Education Center, if that’s what it’s going to cost,” Lime said.

Higgins said the parking-lot and driveway improvements have nothing to do with the safety house’s relocation.

Regarding the importance of the driveway and parking lot improvements, Higgins said it would not be practical to make those improvements one year and build the library in another year.

Higgins added that the driveway and lot improvements are in line with other capital projects the city has been tackling.

Councilman Scott Tuma said the city-CCPL agreement is a good example of regionalism.

Councilwoman Mary Buchholz Galinas said the fire safety house is a “fight for another day.”

Under the driveway and parking-lot improvement project, the eastern driveway leading from West Ridgewood Drive into the City Hall lot will move further east.

The new driveway, with a traffic signal at West Ridgewood, will lie just east of an existing municipal park.

The city will remove tennis courts to make room for the new driveway, which will also lead to the new library branch.

Meanwhile, the city will reconstruct and expand the parking area between the new driveway and City Hall.

In addition, the city will rebuild the parking lot behind Parma Memorial Hall, which is on Ridge just south of City Hall.

Meanwhile, CCPL, as part of the library project, will resurface a parking lot adjacent to the Donna Smallwood Activities Center and Office on Aging and install new lights in the lot at no cost to the city.

In May, Higgins told the Sun Post that the project will improve the appearance of the City Hall area and make the site safer for traffic and pedestrians.

That is especially important because the library is expected to draw more traffic to an already busy area, Higgins said.

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